New Challenge
by Persona Ohnlyne
Summary: The Lyoko Gang face a new challenge, a human that is helping Xana...
1. Chapter 1

Code Lyoko: New Challenge

A Code Lyoko Fanfiction, by Persona.

Disclaimer: I do not own Code Lyoko, Moonscoop and Canal J do. I'm not writing this to get money, just for fun, so don't sue me.

Notes: This fanfict happens after season 1, and during season 2. If you've already seen season 2, then I'm pretty sure you'll be able to tell just what things have happened, and which have yet to happen, if you haven't seen season 2, then I suggest that you don't read the story, because it will have spoliers of the series.

Also, some events will happen differently because of the new going-ons in this fic.

And now, on with the story.

Chapter 1

Jeremie, Aelita, Yumi, Ulrich and Odd were on their way to The Factory.

Things had been peaceful so far. As peaceful as it could get for the Lyoko Gang these days.

Except for that little episode where the day was being repeated over and over, Xana had been pretty quiet.

The only things to worry about were Aelita's dreams, which were becoming more frequent day after day, and the mysteries surrounding Sector 5 "Cartage", and Franz Hopper's work, which Jeremie was STILL trying to figure out. And of course, the Scyphozoa which was always trying to suck Aelita's memories, and they didn't even know why.

Jeremie's scanning program had detected the activated tower an hour ago. But nothing out of the ordinary had happened yet. No inanimate objects coming to life, no people being controlled by Xana trying to kill them, no nothing.

That was the most surprising thing.

However, they knew better by now. Sometimes, when Xana was apparently doing nothing, it was doing the most horrible things.

They reached The Factory and used the elevator to reach the computer. Jeremie sat in front of the keyboard set as usual, and began to analyze the situation more thoroughly. The rest of the Lyoko gang stood around him, waiting to see just what exactly they had to do once they entered Lyoko.

"So Einstein, what is the super calculator doing?" asked Odd.

"So far… nothing." replied Jeremie. "The tower was activated at the desert area. Except for the activated tower, there seems to be nothing out of place."

"That's good then. Let's just take Aelita to the tower so she can deactivate it and get this over with." said Ulrich.

"Okay, go to the scanners and I'll send you to Lyoko." Answered Jeremie, "But be careful. Remember the time that Xana infected you while in Lyoko so you would die for real if you got deleted. Xana never shows its fangs until it has to."

"You don't have to remind us Jeremie. We'll be careful." replied Yumi, "Let's go Aelita." she said to the pink haired girl.

"Okay," said Aelita, as the four of them entered the elevator to go to the scanners. Meanwhile, Jeremie was getting everything ready for them to enter Lyoko.

Aelita, Odd, Ulrich and Yumi dropped on the virtual desert of Lyoko after being scanned and virtualized by Jeremie.

[Okay everyone, the activated tower is west of your position. I'm sending you the vehicles right now. said Jeremie to them trough his speakerphones and mike.

As soon as he said it, the three vehicles were virtualized near the Lyoko gang.

Odd took the Overboard, Ulrich the Overbike while Aelita and Yumi got on the Overwing, with Yumi driving. A second later, they were all speeding in the general direction of the activated tower.

[Okay everyone, be careful. Four Wasps are going your way. said Jeremie.

Ulrich turned his head, "I see them." He turned to Yumi, "Yumi, you take Aelita to the tower. Me and Odd will take care of this and then we'll join you."

"Alright." replied Yumi, as she speeded away while Odd and Ulrich turned to fight the Wasps.

Jeremie watched the monitors. So far nothing was happening, here or in Lyoko.

Except for the Wasps that Odd and Ulrich were fighting off, Xana didn't seem to be doing anything. Jeremie liked this less and less with each passing second. Xana had never done something like this before. Why activate a tower? What was Xana doing?

Suddenly, his attention was drawn back to the monitor.

Jeremie's eyes opened wide when he saw the new marker on the monitor. It couldn't be!

"Yumi, Aelita, there is something going your way. Watch out!" he said into the mike of his headphones.

Yumi and Aelita looked around after hearing Jeremie's warning. They were just a few meters away from the activated tower. And they didn't see any monsters coming.

"I don't see any monsters. What are we watching out for Jeremie?" asked Yumi.

[It's not a monster. It's an avatar! was Jeremie's reply.

Before Yumi or Aelita could say anything, they were attacked.

"Yumi watch out!" Aelita saw the attack coming just in time. Something that seemed like a whip made of pure energy struck towards Yumi and Aelita, but thanks to Aelita's warning, they jumped out of the way in time. The Overwing wasn't so lucky, the whip cut the vehicle in half, and it disappeared soon after.

Both Yumi and Aelita rolled on the ground, then looked up from where the attack had come from.

Neither of them could believe their eyes. Right above them, standing on top of the activated tower… it was a virtual-avatar. Another human being, virtualized inside of Lyoko!

The avatar jumped down from the tower, turned around a few times in mid air like an Olympic gymnast, and landed with a perfect stand. Right between them and the activated tower.

Yumi and Aelita were able to take a good look at the virtual-avatar now.

It was definitely female. Altough she was wearing a futuristic looking armor that covered her whole body, it was shaped as a female body.

The armor was a dark crimson color, with black highlights at the shoulders, gloves, and helmet. The joints at the ankles, elbows, wrists, etc, were so well made that they were virtually invisible. The boots of the armor ended in high heels, not regular heels, but thick solid heels. The helmet covered the head completely, there were no openings, it only had a mirror like glass at the level of the eyes.

The whip made of energy had come out from an opening at the armor's right wrist. It soon retracted back inside the armor. The girl in front of them then placed a hand on her hips.

"Okay now. That's as far as you two go." Came a voice from inside the armor. Female, definitely female.

"Who are you?" asked Yumi, more like demanding an answer than asking a question.

"Telling you my name won't make a difference. Besides, you'll find out soon enough." was the reply.

Aelita stood up and approached the newcomer. "Let me go to the tower please, I have to stop Xana."

The armored girl shook her head, "Sorry, I can't let you."

"Let Aelita trough, or else…" Said Yumi, holding her fan ready to strike.

The armored girl did not like the threat, she turned to look at Yumi. "Or else what? Think you can beat me? Take your best shot."

Yumi had heard enough, she threw her fan at the armored girl. The girl dodged the fan by jumping high up, while in mid air, the girl aimed her hand towards Yumi, holding it steady with her other hand. "Energy Whip!"

The shining whip struck again towards Yumi, but the girl wasn't aiming at Yumi, she was aiming at Yumi's legs. The whip struck Yumi's legs, causing her to fall down on the ground.

"Yah!" The armored girl then spun in mid air, and landed right on top of Yumi, shoving both her legs in Yumi's body. The attack was strong enough to take down all of Yumi's life points.

A second later, Yumi was de-virtualized, and back outside of Lyoko.

Aelita couldn't believe what she just saw. That girl was very agile, quick, and very strong too. The armor didn't seem to slow her down whatsoever.

Aelita watched as the energy whip retracted back into the armor's arm, the armored girl then turned her head to look at Aelita and pointed a finger at her. "You, don't you dare move, I mean it!"

After seeing what she had done to Yumi, Aelita stood still, terrified at the girl. Who was she, and why was she helping Xana?

[Odd, Ulrich, you have to hurry! said Jeremie.

Odd and Ulrich were just finishing beating the Wasps.

"Laser Arrow!" Odd struck an incoming Wasp right in the eye, and it exploded into pieces. "What's the matter Einstein?"

[Yumi and Aelita reached the tower. But Yumi was beaten, and Aelita can't get close to the tower to deactivate it! replied Jeremie.

"Ah!" Ulrich struck the last Wasp with his katana, while speeding up with his Overbike. The Wasp exploded a second later. "Okay Jeremie, we're on our way. Just how many monsters are there?" asked Ulrich.

[You're not going to believe this, but there are no monsters. It was an avatar, another human.

"You're right," said Odd, "I don't believe it!"

Odd and Ulrich speeded towards the tower as fast as their vehicles could take them. Not only to help Aelita, but to see what Jeremie had told them with their own eyes.

Aelita and the armored girl were facing each other, Aelita didn't dare move. The armoed girl didn't seem like she was going to attack Aelita, but she didn't take her eyes off her either.

"Why are you doing this? Why are you helping Xana?" asked Aelita.

"You'll find out soon enough." replied the armored girl.

This was the second time that the girl didn't answer the question. Well, she wasn't answering the question in a precise way. All she did was imply that she wouldn't answer them now, but that they could expect an answer later. Which only scared Aelita more.

Suddenly, the girl turned her head to a side, "Hmm, your friends are almost here."

Aleita turned to look at where the armored girl was looking. She was right, Odd and Ulrich were almost there.

"Well, hello there." said Odd when he saw the mysterious armored-girl.

"Odd and Ulrich, so nice of you to come here." Commented the girl.

"Aelita, are you okay?" asked Ulrich to the pink haired girl.

"Yes Ulrich, I'm okay. She just won't let me go trough to the tower." replied Aelita.

Odd turned to look at the girl, "I don't know who you are, but you better let Aelita deactivate that tower."

The girl just shook her head no.

"Have it your way then, Laser Arrow!" Odd fired his weapon to the girl.

The armored girl's hand moved at an incredible speed. She grabbed the Laser Arrow in mid air, right before it hit her head, and then tossed it back at Odd.

This caught Odd by surprise. The Laser Arrow struck him right on the chest, and combined with the damage he had taken before, it was enough to de-virtualize him and send him out of Lyoko.

"Odd! No!" Ulrich saw how his friend was de-virtualized, and grabbing his katana in both hands, charged towards the armored girl.

The armored girl formed a laser shield of sorts on the right arm of her armor, and used it to defend herself against Ulrich's attacks. Again and again the German boy tried to land a blow, and again and again the mysterious girl was able to stop his attacks with her laser shield.

Aelita saw the two of them fight, and considered that she now could go to the tower while Ulrich kept the girl busy.

However, she couldn't take two steps before a bunch of transparent tendrils wrapped around her. The tendrils lifted Aelita up the ground, and turned her around. It was the Scyphozoa!

[Ulrich, hurry! The Scyphozoa has Aelita! came Jeremy's voice.

Ulrich stopped for a second to turn his head, and see Aelita at the tendrils of the Scyphozoa.

Forgetting about the armored girl for a moment, Ulrich turned and ran towards the Scyphozoa and Aelita.

"Not so fast, Ulrich!"

Ulrich felt something grab his leg, and he fell down on the ground. Turning back, he saw how a laser like whip had caught his leg. The whip was attached to the wrist of the armored girl.

Ulrich saw how the whip retracted back into the armor of the girl, and she jumped towards him.

Ulrich rolled on the ground, causing the girl to hit dirt with her fist. Then Ulrich stood up with a jump, turned around to the Scyphozoa, and tossed his katana.

The katana sword flew towards the Scyphozoa, cutting its tendrils. It dropped Aelita, and hurriedly retreated.

"Scyphozoa 0001! No!" cried the armored girl.

The girl used her whip again, hitting Ulrich full force on the side with it. Without his sword to protect himself, Ulrich took the hit fully and was de-virtualized soon afterwards.

Aelita, who was sitting on the ground after the Scyphozoa dropped her, saw how Ulrich was de-virtualized. The pink haired girl also saw how the mysterious armored girl was walking towards the injured Scyphozoa.

The armored girl walked next to the Scyphozoa, and took two of its injured tendrils in her hands, "Scyphozoa 0001… are you okay, does it hurt… oh you poor thing."

Aelita stood up and quietly walked towards the activated tower.

She was stopped dead in her tracks when a laser whip struck the ground right in front of her.

"You! Don't move another centimeter!" ordered the armored girl as the laser whip retracted back into her armor. Then she turned her head to the Scyphozoa, "It's okay, you can't do anything more. Go away for now."

Amazingly, the Scyphozoa obeyed the girl. Turning around, the jellyfish like creature left the area.

Aelita couldn't believe this, what was going on here!?

"Who ARE you?" asked Aelita, as the armored girl walked around her, again standing between the pink haired girl and the activated tower.

"I'm going to be helping Xana from now on. That's all you need to know for now." Replied the girl.

Just then, the activated tower behind the girl deactivated on its own.

The armored girl turned her head to look at the tower, then placed a hand at the side of her head, where her left ear would be under the helmet. "Xana? You're done? Okay, I'm on my way."

The girl started to get de-virtualized, she waved at Aelita as she disappeared from Lyoko. "Bye, see you around."

"Jeremy… did… did you see all that?" asked Aeilta.

Back in the Factory, Jeremy, Ulrich, Odd and Yumi were watching the monitors. None of them could believe what had just happened.

And what scared them the most were the girl's last words, 'see you around.'

----------------------------------------

To be continued…

Persona Ohnlyne.


	2. Chapter 2

Code Lyoko: New Challenge

A Code Lyoko Fanfiction, by Persona Ohnlyne.

Disclaimer: I do not own Code Lyoko, Moonscoop and Canal J do. I'm not writing this to get money, just for fun, so don't sue me.

Notes: This fanfict happens after season 1, and during season 2. If you've already seen season 2, then I'm pretty sure you'll be able to tell just what things have happened, and which have yet to happen, if you haven't seen season 2, then I suggest that you don't read the story, because it will have spoliers of the series.

Also, some events will happen differently because of the new going-ons in this fic.

And now, on with the story.

Episode 2

It was the day after the incident in Lyoko with the mystery girl.

Both Aelita and Jeremie had staid up all night, Aelita inside the tower that had activated and Jeremie at the computer. They had tried to find out just WHAT Xana had done.

It was the first time that a tower had deactivated on its own, Jeremie had explained to the others that even if it had never happened before, the meaning of a tower deactivating on its own meant that Xana had actually finished doing whatever it had done when the tower was activated. Now they had to find out what had been changed.

There was always the option of going back in time to undo whatever had been done, but repeating days only made Xana more powerful, and they didn't know what happened. For all they knew, maybe that is what Xana wanted them to do and repeating the day might make things even worse.

"So Jeremie," whispered Ulrich to his friend, "Did you or Aelita find something?"

Jeremie shook his head, "I'm afraid not Ulrich. We would have to search sector 5, maybe we can find something there."

"Class, may I have your attention," said the teacher, "We have a new student joining us today. Her transfer was completed yesterday."

The teacher opened the door, "Come inside please."

A girl walked into the classroom and stood in front of the class.

"Class, this is Jane de Bouchard." The teacher introduced her.

As the girl walked into the classroom, many of the boys were impressed at how good looking she was. Jane was of average height, had emerald green eyes and long brown hair that reached just past her shoulders, her skin was a nice tanned color.

She also had a nice looking figure, which only Sissi's could compete with in the school.

However, the ones that were more surprised where Odd, Aelita, Ulrich and Jeremie. More exactly at what she was wearing.

Jane's clothes consisted of a pair of white shoes, blue jeans, and a red t-shirt. The shirt was what caught the Lyoko Gang by surprise. In the middle of the shirt, in a bright yellow color, was Xana's emblem. Jane had the Eye of Xana stamped on her t-shirt!

The Lyoko Gang suddenly realized that they were staring at Jane… and she was staring right back at them. The girl had a knowing smile on her face.

"Jane, please sit down where you find a free seat." Said the teacher to the new girl.

Jane nodded and walked towards the only empty seat in the whole classroom. Which was right next to Jeremie and Aelita!

"Jeremie," Aelita whispered, "Did you see her T-shirt? What do you think?"

"It's too big to be a coincidence," replied Jeremie, "The only people that know of the existence of that symbol is us."

"Do you think that she is…"

"The armored girl from yesterday?" Jeremie asked the question Aelita was thinking, "It's a big possibility."

Jeremie and Aelita became quiet when they noticed that Jane was watching them.

Jane pointed at the Eye of Xana on her shirt, then at her own eye and then at Jeremie, Aelita, Odd and Ulrich.

That action alone made the whole Lyoko Gang uneasy.

Later that day, at lunch time.

The whole Lyoko gang were having lunch together as usual.

"She had Xana's eye on her t-shirt?" asked a surprised Yumi after hearing what Jeremie told her.

"Yes. And it surprised us too." Replied Jeremie.

"What do you think it means? Do you think she was the girl from yesterday?" asked the Japanese girl.

"It's very possible." replied Jeremie, "but if that is the case, why make it so obvious? She knows that we are the only ones that were going to understand the meaning of the symbol."

"Maybe… she WANTS us to know it was her." Said Ulrich.

"Why would she want us to know?" asked Aelita.

"That one's easy. Because I'm not worried about you guys knowing my secret." Came a voice from the side.

All five kids turned their heads at the source of the voice. Standing next to the table, holding her lunch tray, was Jane de Bouchard.

Without asking permission, she sat at one side of the table, next to Yumi and Aelita, while Odd, Ulrich and Jeremie were sitting on the other side.

"What are you doing?" asked Ulrich, trying to sound intimidating.

It didn't work on Jane, "I'm eating lunch. What does it look like I'm doing."

"I think she's spying on us." Said Odd, "Let's leave."

Jane chuckled, "No you wont."

"And what makes you so sure?" asked Odd, already starting to get up from the table.

"Because, you are more curious about me than I am about you." Replied Jane.

"She's right Odd." Replied Jeremie. "She seems to know who we are, but we don't know who she is."

"And I bet you are just DYING to know. Don't you?" said Jane, "Tell you guys what. I'm going to allow you each to ask me a single question, and I promise I'll answer it truthfully. Each one of you can ask one question, and one question only. Understand?"

"How do we know that you will answer truthfully?" asked Ulrich.

"Because I promise I will, and you have no reason to believe that I'm going to lie to you. That is one question." Replied Jane.

"What? That counted as a question?" asked Odd.

"Yes it did. That is two questions." Replied Jane.

Odd immediately covered his mouth with his hands.

Now only Yumi, Jeremie and Aelita had questions left. They knew they had to use them wisely, this girl was tricky.

"I'll ask the next question." Said Jeremie, "Is Jane de Bouchard your real name?"

Jane smiled at Jeremie, "Oh, you're good. Actually, no, my real name is Shahela Dirani. That is three questions."

Everyone looked at Jeremie in confusion, except Aelita.

They never thought that this girl had been using a fake name. However, now that they thought about it, she did have Arab like features.

Her answer only arose more questions, not just from Ja… Shahela, but from Jeremie as well. However, they knew that they had some limited questions, so they had to inquire to Jeremie as to why he asked what he asked.

"Why did you ask her about her real name Jeremie?" asked Ulrich.

Aelita was the one that answered Ulrich's question, "Because, if we know her real name, Jeremie can use it to track her down via computer network, and find out more about her."

"And that way we don't have to rely on this stupid question game to find out more about her. Way to go Jeremie!" Odd congratulated Jeremie by patting his back.

"I'll ask the next one," said Yumi, she knew that now they needed to know things that even a computer couldn't tell them, "Yesterday, what did you and Xana do with that activated tower?"

"It's not something very complex actually," replied Jane, "In order to better help Xana, I had to be close to you guys, and to do that, I needed to study in the same school. The only thing Xana did yesterday was modify some specific records here and there from different offices, so I would be legally transferred to this school, and give me a fake identity to do it. After he was done, the tower was deactivated, it's as simple as that. That is four questions, you have one left."

Now only Aelita could ask Jane a question. They now had managed to know enough about her to find what they needed to know on their own. However, there was one last thing that Aelita wanted to know.

"Shahela… what is Xana to you?" asked the pink haired girl.

Shahela blushed a little at that question, and the others noticed it, "Well, I guess that the right answer would be that Xana means to me the same thing that you mean to Jeremie."

Shahela quickly gathered her things, since she had finished eating before Aelita asked her question. "Okay. That was the last question. Salam."

Shahela left, leaving five confused kids sitting at the table.

----------------------------------------

End of the second episode

To be continued on the next episode…

Persona Ohnlyne.


	3. Chapter 3, 4 and 5

Code Lyoko: New Challenge

Code Lyoko: New Challenge  
A Code Lyoko Fanfiction.

Disclaimer: I do not own Code Lyoko, Moonscoop and Canal J do. I'm not writing this to get money, just for fun, so don't sue me.

Notes: This fanfict happens after season 1, and during season 2 (More precisely, after the Final Mix episode, but before the Missing Link episode).  
If you've already seen season 2, then I'm pretty sure you'll be able to tell just what things have happened, and which have yet to happen, if you haven't seen season 2, then I suggest that you don't read the story, because it will have spoilers of the series.  
Also, some events will happen differently because of the new going-ons in this fic.

And now, on with the story.

Chapter 3

That night, Ulrich, Odd and Jeremie were in the factory's computer room. Yumi had gone home and Aelita was in Lyoko.  
More precisely, inside a Tower.

Both Jeremie, using his computer, and Aelita, using the tower, were investigating in every place they could think of to find more information about Shahela Dirani a.k.a. Jane de Bouchard. Who she was, where she came from… everything they could find this way.

Odd and Ulrich couldn't really help, they were there so they could see what Jeremie and Aelita found once they finished, or if they were needed in Lyoko for any eventuality.  
The two of them were talking on the day's events while they waited.

"So, Ulrich, what do you think about Shahela?" asked Odd.

Ulrich shrugged, "To be honest, I'm not sure. Okay, she's working for the 'other side' but she doesn't seem to be…"

"Dangerous?" finished Odd.

"Yeah." Replied Ulrich. "She didn't seem to be controlled by Xana or anything. She was doing it on her own free will. It's like she's just doing what we're doing, but on the other side of the field."

"What about that thing she said before she left?"

"About Xana meaning to her the same thing that Aelita means to Jeremie?" said Ulrich, "That actually creeps me out. I mean, we all know what Jeremie and Aelita feel for each other, even if they don't show it… to think that Shahela and Xana…"

Odd shook his head, "I know… weird."

"Aha! This is it!" that was Jeremie.

Odd and Ulrich stood up and walked towards Jeremie. "Did you find anything useful?" asked Ulrich.

"Yes, thanks to Aelita's help." Replied Jeremie.

Aelita smiled from the computer screen, "Thank you, but you did most of the work."

"So, what did you two find out about our mystery girl?" asked Odd.

"A lot actually." Replied Jeremie, "We used a program to find every source where the names Shahela and Dirani appeared in every newspaper, article, phone conversation, police report, or e-mail file and database of the last 13 years. Then, using another program, we separated those that were either redundant, or the ones that…"

"Okay, okay, now, could you say that in simple French?" interrupted Odd.

"Okay, basically, we complied a scrapbook about her past." Replied Jeremie.

"Okay then, so what does it say?" asked Ulrich.

"Well, let's take a look, shall we?" Jeremie double clicked on one of the many icons on the screen, and a new window opened up.

"Let's see, Shahela Dirani, only daughter of two immigrants, Hassan Dirani from Lebanon, and Shah Faridi from India. Both of them Muslims, they met and married after moving to France. They lived in Lyon, until Shahela was born, and so they moved to Paris when she was just two years old."

"I guess that they didn't have very nice experiences there… right?" commented Ulrich.

"No. They were all looked down upon, and they had a lot of trouble being accepted by anyone who wasn't of Arab or Indian decent like they were." replied Jeremie. "According to the information here, both of Shahela's parents worked, and according to the address, they lived in a small apartment in the Arab district suburbs."

"So they were poor, and looked down upon by others." commented Ulrich, saying the same thing Jeremie had, but in fewer words.

"In a word, yes." Replied Jeremie. He continued reading, when he saw something that made his eyes open up like saucers, "Oh my god…"

"What? What is it?" asked Odd.

"Look at this." Jeremie clicked on a picture on the screen, and a newspaper article of ten years ago appeared on the screen, "Look at the header of this article, 'Bus crashes with a truck, ten injured and one dead'. And look at this paragraph, '… the only passenger that died after the crash was Lebanese immigrant Hassan Dirani. He was alive when the ambulance took him away, but he died at the hospital…."

"So, Shahela lost her father when she was only three years old?" said Aelita from the computer screen.

"Poor girl…" commented Ulrich.

"Wait, it gets worse." Said Jeremie, "According to a morgue record two years later to the crash, Shahela's mother died too. The autopsy said that it was because of a heart attack, caused by too much work."

"Too much work?" said Odd.

"Yeah, she must have gotten more jobs to take care of Shahela after her husband died. Her body couldn't take it." Jeremie opened another file, "Since both her parents were dead, and she had no living relatives, she was taken under the custody of the state."

"I'm surprised that she wasn't deported." commented Ulrich.

"She was born here… she can't be deported… can she?" asked Odd.

"It's not like that has stopped the government before." replied Jeremie, "The reason why she wasn't deported was because she was underage. Shahela was just five years old at the time, and so she was placed in an orphanage."

"An orphanage?" said Odd.

"Yes, and not a very good one either… let's see what else we have here…" again, Jeremie was surprised at what he read, "This is amazing! Look at this."

Ulrich and Odd looked at the place on the screen where Jeremie was pointing at. "According to this school records, Shahela was a more than excellent student. She had really high grades. Because of that, when she was ten years old she was selected to undergo a special test to determine her IQ… look at the results." He pointed at a three digits number on the screen.

Neither Ulrich nor Odd knew how to measure an IQ using numbers, "Is that big?" asked Odd.

"Big? It's gigantic! Shahela is so smart that she makes Stephen Hawking look dumb!" replied Jeremie, "In fact, she was so smart, that she was transferred to a governmental facility to be… educated."

Ulrich didn't like the sound of that, "Educated on what?"

"Not very nice things. Very BAD things actually, if you know what I mean." Replied Jeremie, "She was basically kept isolated from any human contact that did not involve her training. Basically, the only things she did every day was sleep, eat and study."

"That's… that's horrible." said Aelita from the computer screen.

"Yes, it is." Replied Jeremie. He continued to read the information, "Apparently Xana contacted her while she was using one of her learning computers. After that, the information appears to have been modified."

"You mean that Xana modified it." Said Aelita.

"So, Xana helped Shahela get out of there and gave her the fake identity of Jane, and in return, Shahela is helping Xana?" said Ulrich.

"Yes, that is basically it." Replied Jeremie. He looked at the clock on the computer, "It's late guys, we better go back to the school and get some sleep."

Jeremie turned to look at Aelita on the computer screen, "Okay Aelita, I'm going to devirtualize you."

"I'm ready." Replied the pink haired girl.

"Devirtualizing Aelita." Jeremie pressed a key on the keyboard… and nothing happened.

"N… nothing happened." Said Aelita.

Jeremie typed some new commands on the computer, "Devirtualizing Aelita." Again he pressed the key, and again, nothing happened.

"What's wrong?" asked Odd.

"I'm not sure," Jeremie started to scan the devirtualization program, "Apparently, there is something inside the towers. Is keeping the devirtualizing program from working."

Jeremie then did another scanning, "There is an activated tower! The activated tower is messing up the devirtualizing program. It's keeping Aelita from being devirtualized!"

Aelita looked worried now. "Oh no… Jeremie… what do we do now?"

"The tower will need to be deactivated." Replied Jeremie, "Once it's deactivated, the program will be erased from all the towers, and you can be devirtualized again."

"Where is the tower Jeremie?" asked Ulrich.

"In the forest area." Replied Jeremie. "You two better get in Lyoko, you'll have to escort Aelita to the activated tower." Said Jeremie to Odd and Ulrich.

Jeremie turned again to look at Aelita in the computer screen, "Aelita, you just exit back out from the tower into the forest area, and wait for Odd and Ulrich."

"Okay Jeremie." Replied Aelita.

Quickly, Odd and Ulrich went to the elevator and into the scanners. Jeremie started the virtualizing process, and soon they were in Lyoko. Aelita was waiting for them outside the tower.

"Where is the activated tower Jeremie?" asked Aelita.

On the other side from where you are now I'm afraid. Wait a minute, I'll send you the vehicles. replied Jeremie.

Jeremie then saw some blimps at the map on the screen, before he could actually send the vehicles to the Lyoko gang.

Heads up everyone! You have enemies heading your way!

"We see them Jeremie!" replied Ulrich. He and Odd got their weapons ready to fight as Aelita hid behind them for her own security. Some Bloks and Krabes were heading their way.

"Ulrich look there!" exclaimed Odd, pointing to one of the Bloks.

"I see her Odd." Replied Ulrich.

Sitting on one of the Bloks, wearing her red armor, was Shahela. "Hello everyone, missed me?" she waved to the others.

--

To be continued…

Code Lyoko: New Challenge  
A Code Lyoko Fanfiction.

Disclaimer: I do not own Code Lyoko, Moonscoop and Canal J do. I'm not writing this to get money, just for fun, so don't sue me.

Notes: This fanfict happens after season 1, and during season 2 (More precisely, after the Final Mix episode, but before the Missing Link episode).  
If you've already seen season 2, then I'm pretty sure you'll be able to tell just what things have happened, and which have yet to happen, if you haven't seen season 2, then I suggest that you don't read the story, because it will have spoilers of the series.  
Also, some events will happen differently because of the new going-ons in this fic.

And now, on with the story.

Chapter 4

The Lyoko Gang watched as Shahela, the Bloks and the Krabes placed themselves between them and the only way out to the activated tower. Being in the forest area, they had nothing but two options, going forward or going back. And they had to go forward if they wanted to deactivate the tower.

Odd suddenly realized something, "Hey, wait a minute! How is she able to be here? Does she have a scanner we don't know about?"

Everyone looked at Odd, and realized he was right. They were so surprised about Shahela helping Xana that they never thought about that detail. "He's right!" exclaimed Yumi, "How are you able to enter Lyoko?" she asked to Shahela.

Shahela shook her finger, "Sorry, I already answered your questions, remember? If you want to find out something else, you'll have to do it the old fashion way." She replied.

Then, Shahela moved her wrist and her energy whip appeared. It did a nasty cracking sound as it hit the ground. The message was loud and clear. "I only need Aelita. The rest of you can go."

Yumi, Odd and Ulrich stepped in front of Aelita in a protective manner, getting their weapons ready to fight any threat. "You'll have to step over us first." Said Ulrich.

"Okay then." Shahela turned her head to look at the Bloks and Krabes next to her. There was a total of 10 Bloks and 3 Krabes.

Shahela started giving orders to the Bloks and Krabes. "Blok 6788, Blok 4356, take the right, Blok 5682, Blok 4570 take the left. The rest of you cover them. The Krabes stand back, and be ready to attack anyone that manages to pass trough our defensive lines."

At Shahela's orders, the Krabes and Bloks did a sort of nodding gesture, signaling that they understood her, and took their positions.

The Lyoko Gang was surprised at this. Xana's monsters were powerful on their own, but somewhat stupid. Now they had Shahela ordering them around like a general or something, and they realized that now they were more dangerous because they were organized.

Ulrich, Odd, Yumi and Aelita looked at each other, and without saying anything, they nodded at each other.  
They had been fighting together for so long that they didn't need to say any words to each other.

Ulrich took a step forward, her katana at the ready, but taking a defensive stance. Odd took a few steps back to Ulrich's left, while Yumi stood at a distance to Ulrich's right, her Fan-Shuriken in her hand. Aelita took a few steps back, she couldn't attack and that way she would be away from Shahela and out of everyone's way.

The thirteen monsters of Xana and the five virtualized teens were now at a standoff. Nobody moved, nobody attacked.  
They knew that there was a fight coming soon, but nobody wanted to do the first move.  
They started at each other, read each other, measured each other.

Suddenly, there was a burst of movement as Ulrich, Odd and Yumi moved at the same time. Shahela and the Bloks followed suit.  
Yumi threw her battle fan at the Bloks in front of her, as Odd threw laser arrows to the Bloks in front of him. Ulrich ran towards Shahela, katana at the ready.

Shahela extended both arms, and surprised everyone as a second laser whip came out of her other arm. One whip deflected Yumi's fan, while the other deflected Odd's laser arrows.  
The Bloks at Shahela's flanks suddenly fired at Yumi and Odd, and the two teenagers had to jump to a side to dodge the attack.

Ulrich, seeing that Shahela was completely open after defending the Bloks, attacked with his sword in a quick slash, but Shahela jumped up and away from the attack. She immediately attacked Ulrich with a kick, but Ulrich dodged it.

Yumi and Odd, still dodging the attacks from the Bloks, used their weapons again. This time, Shahela was too busy fighting Ulrich, and couldn't defend them. Yumi's fan struck on the Bloks in the eye, as Odd fired three laser arrows, all of them striking the eyes of three Bloks. The four Bloks exploded, and disappeared, six Bloks and 3 Krabes left.

Ulrich and Shahela were still fighting with each other. Ulrich was finding out the hard way that the girl was very skilled in hand to hand combat. The wrists of Shahela's armor didn't just have those laser whips, but they were also harder and thicker than normal. She used them to deflect and cover herself from Ulrich's katana.

"Xana told me you were good. He wasn't kidding." Said Shahela.

Ulrich slashed at Shahela again, but the girl deflected it with her left wrist and kicked Ulrich with her right leg. The kick was able to hit Ulrich's side, and he took a few steps back.

"You are very good too." Said Ulrich, "Where did you learn to fight like that?"

"It's Sabate." Explained Shahela, "And… I don't want to remember that." That last statement was in a tone that implied that Shahela learning Sabate was not of her own choice. The complete opposite actually.

Ulrich had to find a way to beat Shahela, this girl was better than Yumi… she was better than anyone he had ever fought before. He got an idea.  
"Triplicate!" Ulrich made himself into three separate beings.

One of Ulrich's copies stayed in front of Shahela, while the other two moved to stand behind the red armored girl, one on her left, one on her right.

Yumi and Odd ran towards the remaining Bloks, Yumi jumped in the air over three of the Bloks and threw her fan at them. The fan made a curve in the air, hitting the eye on all three Bloks. The Bloks exploded at the same time that Yumi landed on the ground and grabbed her fan as it flew back to her.  
At the same time this happened, Odd ran making an S in between the Bloks. He shot three laser arrows at point blank of the eye of each Blok. When he was done, all three Bloks exploded.  
Both teens had to jump away as the Krabes started attacking them now that the Bloks were defeated.

Ulrich wasn't able to surprise Shahela, even when two of his duplicates attacked her from behind. How was she doing that? She didn't seem to have a blind spot!

"Trying to surprise me Ulrich?" commented Shahela as she amazingly blocked an attack from the two Ulrichs behind her with her wrists, and jumped up to dodge the attack from the Ulrich in front of her.  
In mid air, she spun around, attacking with both laser whips at the same time. The whips struck the two Ulrichs that stood behind her, making them fall back, as Shahela fell down she tried to hit the Ulrich in front of her with a drop kick, but Ulrich jumped back and away.

"Just like you being able to triplicate, I have a special Lyoko ability as well." Explained Shahela, "Special Vision. It allows me to see everything around me, no matter if its behind me, above me, or even under me. I can see like if I had a radar. That gives me no blind spot whatsoever."

Damn, thought Ulrich, if that was true, and it seemed like it was true, then beating Shahela was going to be very hard.

Aelita watched how Yumi and Odd were fighting the Krabes, and how Ulrich was fighting Shahela. She had no attacks, so she couldn't do anything but stay back and watch. She was waiting to see an opening between Xana's monsters, but she couldn't. They were perfectly organized, all thanks to Shahela, and she would have to wait for the rest to beat the monsters before she could go to another tower.

Jeremy was watching everything on his computer screen, and he was worried. Xana's monsters, while still rather easy to beat, were now more organized in their movements, thanks to Shahela directing them. And he had never seen anyone lasting that long against Ulrich. Shahela gave Xana an edge that they were going to have trouble beating.

Then he saw it. They were all so entranced with the new situation that even he had forgotten about it.

"Aelita!" Jeremie yelled into the microphone, "Look behind you!"

Aelita heard Jeremie's warning just in time to be too late.

It had been hiding behind the tower behind her, away from everyone's eyesight. Shahela and Xana's monsters were between her and the only way away from it… floating closer to her, tendrils at the ready, was the Scyphozoa.

Guys! Jeremie said to the rest of the Lyoko Gang, The Scyphozoa has Aelita! Help her!

"We want to Jeremie!" said Odd as he dodged the attacks from the Krabes, "But we have our hands full!" He turned to look at Yumi, "Any ideas?"

"Yes." Replied Yumi, as she kept dodging the attacks. "Just keep them off my back for one minute!"

"You got it." Replied Odd, "Hey you, crab face, bet you can't hit me!"

All three Krabes attacked Odd at the same time. He was able to dodge the shots from two of the Krabes, but the third one got him full center.

One of the scanners opened in a cloud of smoke, as Odd stepped out of it.

Odd's sacrifice was not for naught. Yumi took the time that she had from the Krabes not attacking her to throw her fan at the Scyphozoa.

The throwing weapon flew straight and true, cutting the Scyphozoa tendrils, making it retreat and letting go of Aelita who fell down on the ground.

As soon as that happened, Yumi received three shots on her back from the Krabes. And also started getting devirtualized.

A second scanner opened, Yumi was lying down. She made a fist and hit the ground in frustration.

Now only Ulrich was left, but Aelita was safe from the Scyphozoa, who retreated away from everyone.

"Scyphozoa 0001!" cried out Shahela as she saw how the Scyphozoa's tendrils were cut by Yumi's fan just before the Krabes shot her.

"The Scyphozoa is out of the picture Shahela. Only the Krabes are left, but you can't get Aelita's memories with them. Nothing left to do but let Aelita go!" said Ulrich.

Shahela looked at Ulrich. "Look who's talking."  
Shahela had beaten two of Ulrich's duplicates, and he was back to being just one Ulrich. She was now holding Ulrich's wrists with her laser whips. Ulrich's katana was on the ground. Except for being devirtualized, he was completely beaten.

"Yes Ulrich, Aelita may be safe for now." As she said this, Shahela walked towards Ulrich. The laser whips forced his arms to his sides and went around him several times, immobilizing Ulrich's arms by pinning them on his sides. "But you, on the other hand, are not."

Shahela lifted Ulrich from the ground, and walked towards the edge. Holding Ulrich over the Digital Sea.  
Ulrich started to get worried. "Shahela… wait what are you doing!?"

"You guys may have saved Aelita's memory Ulrich." Said Shahela neutrally, "But who will save you?"

Everyone in the Lyoko gang, Aelita standing a few meters away from them, while Jeremie, Odd and Yumi were watching the computer screen.

"Shahela! Don't do this!" begged Aelita.

If Shahela heard Aelita, she didn't show it. "Aufwiedersehen, Ulrich Stern."

Shahela opened her hands, and the laser whips released Ulrich, dropping him down into the Digital Sea.

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion.  
"Nooooo!" Ulrich yelling as he fell into the Digital Sea. A million thoughts passed trough his head, most of them were regarding Yumi, and how he wished he had said something to her about how he felt.

"Ulrich!" Aelita felt complete impotence as she saw how Ulrich was falling. If only she had some offensive capabilities, if only she could do something to have helped!

"ULRICH!" Both Odd and Jeremie were watching from the monitor. And couldn't believe their eyes.

"ULRICH! NOOOOOOOO!" Yumi was watching the same thing. Tears in her eyes, she tried to reach into the monitor as if to reach out and help him.

Ulrich sank into the Digital Sea.  
"He… he's floating data now." Announced Jeremie. His voice a whisper.

Aelita and Shahela looked at each other. Shahela's face was completely covered in the metallic helmet of the armor, but Aelita's expression was of determination. "Shahela… how could you?"

"All's fair in love and war." Was Shahela's reply, "I'll be seeing you." She placed a hand on her head, where her ear would be if it weren't conceived by the armor's helmet. "Take me out Xana."  
Shahela started to get devirtualized.  
The Krabes turned around and walked away, leaving Aelita alone.

"Hum… Jeremie. I'll be getting to a tower to get devirtualized as well." Said Aelita.

I understand Aelita. We'll be waiting for you. came Jeremie's reply.

Jeremie took off the headset and turned around. Yumi was kneeling on the floor, in her eyes.  
Odd was next to her, trying to comfort her, but not knowing what to say.

"This has to be a nightmare. I have to wake up." Said Yumi, "Why am I not waking up!?"

Odd turned to look at Jeremie. "We have to do something Jeremie."

"I will Odd," replied Jeremie. "I will save Ulrich if it's the last thing I do."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

To be continued…

Code Lyoko: New Challenge  
A Code Lyoko Fanfiction.

Disclaimer: I do not own Code Lyoko, Moonscoop and Canal J do. I'm not writing this to get money, just for fun, so don't sue me.

Notes: This fanfict happens after season 1, and during season 2 (More precisely, after the Final Mix episode, but before the Missing Link episode).

And now, on with the story.

Chapter 5

It had taken a lot of convincing, but finally they were able to convince Yumi to go home.  
She wasn't with them when they were researching information about Shahela, but when the problem with Aelita started that evening, they had to send an SMS to her, asking for her to come and help them.  
She had snuck out of her house while everyone else was sleeping. If she wasn't back in her bed by morning, her parents would get worried for sure.

Odd, Jeremie and Aelita were alone in the factory after Yumi left.

"What are we going to do now Jeremie?" asked Odd.

"Well Odd, 'We' aren't going to do anything. You will go back to your room, we'll talk in the morning." Said Jeremie.

"And what about you?" asked Odd.

"Aelita and I will stay here and try to find a way to bring back Ulrich." He turned to look at Aelita, "If its okay with you, Aelita."

"Yes Jeremie, I don't mind. Ulrich needs all the help he can get." Replied the pink haired girl.

"How can we get Ulrich back?" asked Odd.

"It's not going to be easy." Replied Jeremie, "It'll be like when Yumi fell into the Digital Sea. But harder. Back then you accidentally entered the correct series of codes to find and devirtualize a person, remember?"

Odd nodded, he did remember. The program back then was meant for Aelita, but she had to wait longer and let Jeremie use it to get Yumi back.

"Well. Now we don't have the code. When someone falls into the Digital Sea, they become part of it… an almost endless stream of random data. In order to devirtualize Ulrich we have to find the exact data in a specific place. For that we would need to check every single program line in the Digital Sea, and look for an anomaly, one line at a time." Explained Jeremie.

"How many lines are there?" asked Odd.

"Around a billion." Replied Aelita.

Odd made a face, the odds didn't seem very much in their favor.

"We can't give up guys!" exclaimed Jeremie, "We have to find Ulrich and bring him back!"

The next day, at Kadic.

Odd, Jeremie and Aelita were standing around the coffee machine. Jeremie and Aelita were drinking a cup of coffee, and they looked like they didn't get much sleep. If they slept at all.

"Jeremie, Aelita, did you stay up all night?" asked Odd.

Jeremie yawned, "Almost… I think we may have gotten an hour's worth of sleep." He replied.

"Made any progress with brining back Ulrich?" asked Odd.

"Not much, I'm afraid." Replied Aelita. "Almost no progress to be exact, and…"

Odd interrupted Aelita, making the signal to be quiet with one hand, and pointed to a side with the other. Jeremie and Aelita turned to look, and understood. Yumi was walking towards her.

She didn't look very good. "So… what were you talking about?" she asked to the rest.

"Well… hum, we were… we were just saying that…" Jeremie couldn't think of a good fake subject to use. "… the weather?"

"Yeah, the weather!" exclaimed Odd, "Nice weather we are having. Don't you think so?"

"You were talking about what happened last night, weren't you?" said Yumi.  
Everyone remained quiet. That was an answer in itself.

"Yumi… are you going to be okay?" asked Aelita.

"Guys, it's okay. You don't have to stop what you were talking about just because I'm here. Ulrich was a friend of mine as much as he was your friend." Replied Yumi. She said that, but she was hiding her sorrow.

"Besides. If you want to talk about getting Ulrich back, you should ask me about it." That comment came from behind them.  
Yumi, Odd, Aelita and Jeremie turned their heads. Standing a couple of meters away from them, wearing her red shirt with the eye of Xana, was Shahela.

"You… you bastard!" When she saw Shahela, Yumi suddenly snapped, and jumped towards Shahela.

Yumi practiced martial arts as well, and was almost as good as Ulrich. But Shahela was very good as well.  
Yumi threw a punch at Shahela, but Shahela easily dodged to a side, grabbed Yumi's extended arm and spun around.

"Argh!" Yumi was thrown down to the ground, falling face down. Shahela twisted Yumi's arm behind her back, and forced her to stay down, bending Yumi's arm every time the Japanese girl tried to stand up again.

"Let go of me!" yelled Yumi.

"I don't think so." Replied Shahela, "I didn't come here to fight. I want to talk, now are you going to listen to me? Or do you want to beat me up?"

Odd took a step forward, "Why you…"  
Jeremie stopped him by placing a hand on his shoulder, "Wait Odd, lets hear what she has to say."

"Good Jeremie, I knew you would be the voice of reason here." Said Shahela, she let go of Yumi's arm.  
Yumi stood up, was tempted to go after Shahela as well, but decided against it. At least for the time being.

"Xana knows the exact code that you need to get Ulrich back from the Digital Sea, and I can give it to you." started Shahela. "We'll trade you something for it."

"And what do you want for the codes?" asked Jeremie.

Shahela pointed at Aelita. "Her memories. Aelita goes to Lyoko and submits to the Scyphozoa willingly, and we'll give you the code you need to get Ulrich back."

"What!?" exclaimed Jeremie, "That's crazy! We would never…"

"Jeremie, wait." Aelita interrupted Jeremie and took a step forward. "You will help us get Ulrich back?"

Shahela nodded, "I will. All Xana really cares is what's in your head. Ulrich is unimportant for our goals."

"Your goals! Your goals!" said Yumi in outrage, "How can you be so cruel!?"

Shahela looked at Yumi, "Cruel? You think I'm cruel? Hah hah hah!" she laughed, then looked coldly at Yumi, "You have no idea what cruelty is. Cruel is watching your mother come in every day, looking more worn out as the days passes, until she passes out and dies. Cruel is going to live to an orphanage, that was more like a prison, being treated like trash by the other kids because your are of a different ethnic group. Cruel is being taken away by some guys wearing suits, with no explanation. Cruel is living most of your childhood in some secret government facility, being forced to study every single day so as to become a spy! Hours and hours every day, only getting a break to eat horrible food and sleep on a hard bed, with not other human contact except for the people forcing that horrible lifestyle on you!" With every sentence, Shahela seemed to look more upset, "No, with the exception of Aelita, you don't know what cruel is."

Shahela took a deep breath and calmed down. "My offer is on the table. Think about it." She turned around and walked away, "Bye." She said without turning her head around.

Jeremie started talking again when Shahela was out of earshot, "Aelita, you can't possibly be thinking about that proposal."

"Jeremie… what other choice do we have?" replied Aelita.

"But we can't just give up!" exclaimed Jeremie. "We can't let Xana get your memories!"

"But what about Ulrich?" asked Aelita.

"He wouldn't want you to do that for him Aelita," replied Yumi, "Of that I'm sure."

"We'll find a way to get Ulrich back Aelita," said Jeremie with determination, "We just have to."

+

To be continued…


End file.
